Riverwalk History
During the second half of the 20th century Milwaukee turned its back on a valuable economic resource, the three rivers that run through the heart of the City. Once the center of commerce and recreation, the Milwaukee River had become one of the City's most neglected amenities.
In 1982 the city was under a Federal court mandated order to eliminate overflows and improve seweage treatment, a project that became known as the Water Pollution Abatement Project (WPAP). It was an enormously complex infrastructure project that took more than a decade and cost billions to complete and was the beginning of the Milwaukee River cleanup effort. The cornerstone of the project was the construction of a 17-mile, 34 foot diameter deep tunnel intended to hold sewerage during storm events and prevent it from overflowing into the rivers and Lake Michigan.
The engineer in charge at CH2MHill, the lead engineering firm working on the deep tunnel, had a downtown office which overlooked the Milwaukee River. The neglect of this valuable resource was so glaring that he convinced his firm to contribute $150,000 to engage a nationally-noted design firm to produce a series of draws for a river improvement project, of which a riverwalk would be the primary component.
The Greater Milwaukee Committee, along with Mayor Maier were shown the finished set of drawings. The GMC agreed to sponsor the riverwalk as its primary focus that year and Mayor Maier adopted the riverwalk concept as part of the City's Master Plan.
The Department of City Development was tasked with promoting the idea of riverwalks to the greater public. They developed a marketing plan called "Riverlink" that envisioned riverwalks, public programming to animate downtown spaces, riverfront developments including housing, entertainment & dining venues and river taxis for transportation. There were many hurdles to acceptance, but enough small successes led to slow and steady progress.
The project needed a leader who could bring the various private and public players to the table, it needed a funding mechanism as it was clear the private sector could not do this on their own and it needed legislated zoning.
In March of 1988, former Mayor John Norquist committed to change the way Milwaukee viewed its waterways. The City announced the with the intent to use the river as a means to connect downtown development with business and leisure activities. It became a partnership between the City and the private property owners along the river and downtown (later forming the Milwaukee Riverwalk District) and together they believed the project would have a far-reaching impact, improving public access to the river and increasing property values. The primary goal was to put a renewed focus on the river as a destination for residents, employees, and visitors alike. A funding mechanism was established through the creative thinking of the City's Comptroller, agreements were signed and the first riverwalks were designed in the early 90's. Downtown riverwalk construction, concentrated in an 8-block area, was mostly complete by 1997, transforming the Milwaukee River.
Riverwalk Development: Segment by Segment